The Problem(s) with Video Game Movies

Hollywood has tried (and mostly failed) to adapt a video game to the silver screen several times now…34 times in fact, since 1993. The results have not been promising, ranging from just okay (this year’s Rampage and Tomb Raider) to mediocre (Warcraft, Assassin’s Creed) to just atrocious (Postal, Alone in the Dark). As an enthusiast of both video games and films, I want to explore the factors contributing to the shocking lack of quality in the genre, and what challenges are standing in the way of our first truly great video game adaptation.

Why Does Marvel Succeed Where DC Fails?

If you’re a fan of the DC Extended Universe, look away now! It’s Marvel Appreciation Week as Avengers: Infinity War looms large just over the horizon. The MCU has clearly found the formula for success as year after year they are able to crank out high-quality films with mass appeal, earning high ratings and massive box office draws. Meanwhile the DCEU has floundered, struggling to keep pace with a cinematic universe of their own and generating drab, lackluster fare that doesn’t poll well with critics or audiences. Sure, they’ve made a couple…er, one good film, but by-and-large they have been an afterthought to the Marvel darlings. What went so wrong for DC, and what has Marvel gotten right about the superhero genre?

Some Thoughts on the Unlikable Protagonist

Since this is a screenwriting blog and I am constantly in the process refining my craft, on occasion I’d like to jot down my thoughts about a certain aspect or concept of writing that I’m working on. One of the notes I frequently get back when I ask people for feedback on my work is that my protagonists are too unlikable. Which got me thinking: what makes a morally-questionable protagonist sympathetic to the audience? We’ve seen plenty of detestable characters on-screen in the past: cold-blooded murderers, rapists, greedy opportunists…some real salt-of-the-earth folks. And yet, we often sympathize with their characters and even come to agree with (or at least accept) their actions. What factors and techniques lead to creating this bond between audience and psychopath?